Calvados / Grappa on StovetopIt starts with mixture to be fermented:

5 gallon #2 (food grade) Bucket with Lid

5 lbs. Sugar

1 Packet of Champaign Yeast (apple) or1 Packet of Red Pasteur Yeast (grape)

Water

Apple or Grape pressings

The entire Mixture should be less than a full bucket to allow for the yeast to expand without overflowing. Next you just put the lid on the bucket and forget about it till next year.

In one year or so you can distill it on your stovetop. I use a canning pot with the rack handles turned down to provide a shelf for the bowl to collect the alcohol.

Place the top on the pot upside down so that the alcohol will drip into the bowl inside. Pour cold water into the top to cool the lid so that the alcohol condensation forms on the lid handle and drips into the bowl. I replace the water 3 times when it gets warm before emptying the bowl inside. I siphon the water off into a bucket each time I change it. You don’t want the must inside to get too hot because alcohol condensates before the water at 78 degrees. Just simmer it on a low setting.